The breathtaking beauty of Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula is hard to forget. The crystal blue waters of the narrow peninsula, sandy shores and verdant landscape make you feel truly enveloped in nature at its finest. There’s not a cloud in the sky as we climb into the Mercedes-AMG G 63 and sync our road trip playlist to explore two of the world’s most iconic UNESCO World Heritage Sites – the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics of Queensland – located more than 1,500 kilometres north of Brisbane.

Breathtaking beauty

The small, welcoming city of Cairns is the gateway to otherworldly wilderness and marks the beginning of the iconic Great Barrier Reef Drive. Stretching north to Cape Tribulation, a headland and coastal locality in the heart of the 1,200km² Daintree Rainforest, the 140-kilometre route is one of Australia’s most scenic coastal drives – making it an ideal route for the G-Class.

The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas can be completed in just over an hour, but this is a journey best savoured – especially behind the wheel of the AMG G 63. Its large windows offer a panorama of the verdant landscape, where rainforest-clad hills tumble into a patchwork of sugar cane plantations fringing the coast.

Passing the outer Cairns suburb of Palm Cove and tracing the coast through Macalister Range National Park, the scenery becomes more rugged. A string of idyllic beaches with access roads offers a chance to test the capabilities of the AMG G 63.

Cultural connections

To really understand the significance of the region’s rich history, you have to spend time with a First Nations guide like Kuku Yalanji man Juan Walker, owner of Walkabout Cultural Adventures, whose ancestors have shared a deep and ongoing connection with the reef and the rainforest for more than 40,000 years.

“Visitors are blown away by the knowledge we still have for using nature,” Juan says. The juice from the berries of a sea lettuce plant (Scaevola taccada), he tells us, work like a saline solution – they can be squeezed directly into the eye to help prevent infection.

With each First Nations Australian serving as a custodian of a unique volume of cultural knowledge, no two tourism experiences are the same. A Dreamtime Walk with Kuku Yalanji man Levi Williams at Mossman Gorge will take you through a magical pocket of the Daintree Rainforest near Port Douglas. The experience begins with a traditional smoking ceremony, before heading deeper into the rainforest to explore sacred sites, native wildlife, and plants used for weapons, medicines and food.

“The rainforest is like our supermarket, but we have to be careful which aisle we shop in,” says Levi, gesturing towards a cassowary plum (Cerbera floribunda). Digestible only by the cassowary, a formidable flightless bird descended from dinosaurs, these vibrant blue egg-shaped fruits are toxic enough to kill humans.

Mesmerising views

As the dawn sky glows a deep tangerine, we’re bound for the final leg of our journey across the Daintree River – an approximately 60-minute drive from Port Douglas – and into the wilds of Cape Tribulation.

Before crossing the river, it’s worth boarding a croc cruise with Solar Whisper. The area is renowned for its reptilian residents, and the company’s zero-emission electric solar boats help create a peaceful environment that’s perfect for wildlife viewing. After spotting a few saltwater crocodiles, you’ll be ready for the next adventure.

Cape Tribulation is accessible from the south by car ferry. The journey across the river only takes a few minutes, but once you roll off the barge, you’ll feel as though you’re in an entirely different era – with the world’s oldest continually surviving rainforest cocooning the narrow road.

At Mount Alexandra Lookout, clear skies grant mesmerising views across the rainforest and turquoise Coral Sea. We continue slowly, cautious that cassowaries could cross at any moment, into a small community living off the grid. Many of the locals here work in local tourism businesses such as the Daintree Ice Cream Company, where you’ll want to sample a refreshing pairing of coconut and native wattle seed flavours.

Into the wild

Signposted walking trails are a great way to stretch your legs en route to the Cape Tribulation headland, where the Great Barrier Reef Drive – and the sealed road – officially ends. From there, the road morphs into the infamous Bloomfield Track, a challenging four-wheel-drive route connecting Cape Tribulation to historic Cooktown.

The AMG G 63 navigates the first creek crossing so comfortably we barely feel the bumps of the rocky creek bed thanks to its 22-inch wheels.

When it’s time to say goodbye to the wilderness and make your way back to Cairns, be sure to stop and freshen up at Crystalbrook Flynn Hotel – a luxury hotel just steps from the city’s esplanade boardwalk – before walking along the waterfront to the twelfth-floor rooftop bar Rocco. As Cairns’ highest bar, Rocco boasts panoramic views of the city and surrounding Coral Sea. It’s the ideal place to toast to an incredible adventure, amidst a cacophony of high-pitched screeches from flocks of rainbow lorikeets. Even back in the city, the wilderness is never far away.

For more information and up-to-date opening hours, visit each website below.

This article was originally published in global Mercedes-Benz Magazine and has been edited for local audiences.

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By Sarah Reid